Four Days (Legendary Pink Dots)

Don Scheidt (september 28, 1994):

_Four Days_ is the LPDs' most "industrial" disc, by a long shot. Sweeping
violins, church-inspired keyboards, orchestral washes, light acoustic
melodies, and the like are totally absent, in favour of churning, clanky,
clattering sounds and deep bassy drones. Ka-Spel's voice is featured on
two of the pieces, the first being the most interesting, a sort of sing-
song chant, the words almost tripping and rolling into each other. Also of
interest, for those who have _Shadow Weaver_, is the fourth piece on _Four
Days_, "Nadelstadt", the German translation of "City of Needles", and the
two are nearly the same track, with a bit of remixing in the different
versions. Melody yields to tension on this CD, and it isn't for the meek
or faint of heart.

Four those in the mood for the some of the most challenging and "difficult-
listening" sounds that the LPDs have put out, _Four Days_ comes highly
recommended. For those looking for the more melodic sensibilities of _Any
Day Now_, _Crushed Velvet Apocalypse_, or _The Maria Dimension_, you have
been warned. This disc is for the most ardent of fans, seeking the more
abstract side of our beloved Dots. And the LPDs have not made it any
easier, either; the disc is a limited edition of only 1000 copies. The
liner notes promise that this will be the entire extent of _Four Days_.

And yes, I will not part with this voluntarily, either. And if I ever come
across the bonus _MD_ three-incher, I'll snatch it right quick...

/\ \ | Don Scheidt | /\ \
/ \ \ | Boeing IASL, 777 Cab Development | / \ \
/ /\ \ \ | dgs1300@aw101.iasl.ca.boeing.com | / /\ \ \
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rex <richwill@xsite.net>

In 1988, Edward Ka-Spel and the Silverman recorded an album's worth of
material in, as the title suggests, four days, as a way to repay a friend
for a favor. The one copy of this material was given to that friend, but the
LPDs liked it so much they wanted to release it to their fans, and in 1989,
a limited run of 100 cassettes was made available. Much later, in 1994,
another limited run of 1000 CDs was issued on Terminal Kaleidoscope and sold
via Soleilmoon. The music is of supreme quality for only four days of work,
although it is mostly ambient and instrumental. The exceptions are "The Day
She Returned," with a frantic, maddening vocal that sounds as if it were
recorded in the interior of a storm cloud; "Divine Resignation," with its
distorted speech, which acts as a sequel to Asylum's "A Message From Our
Sponsor"; and the suspenseful industrial instrumental "Nadelstadt,"
originally titled "City of Needles" but given a new name after vocals were
added to it for the 1992 album Shadow Weaver.